Geoffrey Chaucer Impact History - Research Paper Example

Geoffrey Chaucer Impact History One of the leading writers of fourteenth century is Geoffrey Chaucer. He had written many work of literature and poetry but the most popular and distinguishable one was Canterbury tales. The Canterbury tales started with the names of the people going to Canterbury for pilgrimage and moved on to the stories of each individual narrating the personal story during the journey. The writer had written the story of each pilgrim with much detail regarding their jobs, personal behavior and style of outfits having historical relevance and with the perspective of the community. It is because of the reason that Canterbury tales had become the most popular and greatest work of English writing that every historian must have read. The major reasons behind the popularity is the deep insight of the subject and the changes of fourteen century had been mentioned with perfection regarding religion, social aspects and gender differences. Background In 1343, Chaucer came into this world in Great Britain as a middle class family member but he spent his life in the ruling aristocratic home (Luminarium, 2012). During his life time he understood the difference and realities of the upper class and middle class and their bonding with the lower class. This deep understanding made his mind clear and resulted in finesse in writing and clearly stated differences with perfection and amuse regarding social class. His writings also revealed the changes in society. Chaucer was a highly qualified writer although; this quality was not popular among the writers of that century belonging to a middle class. The Canterbury tales had the story line of pilgrims on their way to their destiny. The story was initiated by the writer in 1387 and continued writing it till his death in 1400 (Novelguide, 2012). However, the whole story was not fully complete, but there was tales in it with complete meaning and became the leading stories not for that century but for the entire centuries. In the starting of the Canterbury tales, the writer had expressed his views about the non acceptance of rules and regulations by new generation from the old ones. For example: in tale “general prologue”, the knight was explained as honest, accurate and noble and opposite to him was his son with the following of the footsteps of the father. The son was getting the same training as his father but he was more inclined towards arts like writing poetry and singing instead of showing valor and courage as his father. The whole writing showed the changes circumstances than the medieval period as mentioned by historians regarding the knighthood in a country. Chaucer story also mentioned the literature and poetry as the vital parts of the England’s society at that time period that revealed more about the knighthood changes. While the writer was writing over this story during that century, the knighthood was losing its charm and importance in the England. Representation of changing role of society The Canterbury tales did not only explain the changing of society’s role for the high and ruling class but also the change of ideas and controversies regarding the religion in fourteen century (Marcotte, 2007). The main idea of the Canterbury tales was to explain the pilgrims going on a pilgrimage. Thus, the main concept described the importance of religion in England at that time among the society. According to justice, pilgrimage is travel to the place of worship or tomb of saint by the Christians. The story based on the pilgrims belonged to the clergy. The latest writers can get the better understanding of the people working in the church at that time by reading the tales and can also get to know about the valuable items for the male and female members of clergy during fourteenth century. Religious perspective of Chaucer Chaucer’s described the character of the parson in much detailed and clear tone. In medieval period, parson was known to be as the best clergyman. The depicted parson was divine in his believing and sagaciousness and liked to visit the sick people to depart the souls towards the God. The explanation of the parson showed what the valued tasks were for him to the historians at that time period. On the other hand, Chaucer openly described some clergymen as evil and wrong in their dealings that unveiled the hypocrisy and self centered behavior of the clergymen even in fourteenth century (Day, 2011). For instance: a monk was described as imprudent, although it is not an evil trait but the main idea was that all clergy men should be careful enough and prudent over their dealings. He also explained the sleeves of the monk as fur covered that made it clear that this clergyman was much in love with money and not to God. By explaining all types of clergy pilgrims, he made it clear that not all “divine people” are equal and as righteous as parson. Religious women were also there in the tales. One tale had a nun and writer explained that she was very sensitive in dealings and can be cried very easily. The nun could cry even if she sees a mouse in a trap. This revelation showed that women of that were not seen with the same view of being emotional as found in today’s world. However, similar to that of monk, she valued more to money than to God as there was a gold brooch that made it clear. Just like clergymen, nuns were also against the wealthy showings and possessions so; this tale of nun multiplied the fact that not all pious clergy people are similar in dealings and behavior. Idea of feminism By reading the Chaucer’s tales, the historians could easily draw the idea of changing of women views during fourteenth century (Harden, 2012). The change in England transformed the patriarchal society into the one it is today. Chaucer’s revelations were opposite to other writers who explained women as submissive to husbands. Chaucer’s wrote about wife of bath who had five husbands and other affairs. All these activities were not acceptable in the medieval period but Chaucer made it clear that such women did exist in the society that has changed the role. Thus, Chaucer’s Canterbury tales is a leading document of the history that explained in detail about the changing roles of the England’s society, women and clergymen. Works Cited Day, Lauren.The Canterbury Tales: Chaucer's Respectful Critique of Church Officials and Their Abuse of Power. eScholar@Salve Regina, 2011. < http://escholar.salve.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1075&context=pell_theses> Harden, S. "Chaucer's Wife of Bath: Feminist or Failure? - Yahoo! Voices - voices.yahoo.com." Yahoo! Voices - voices.yahoo.com. N.p., 17 July 2007. Web. 4 Dec. 2012. . Marcotte, Andrea, and Andrea Marcotte. Geoffrey Chaucer’s the Canterbury Tales: Rhetoric and Gender in Marriage. , 2007. < http://scholarworks.uno.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1591&context=td> The Canterbury Tales: Novel Summary: The Knight's Tale Study Guide| Novelguide." Free Study Guides, free study guide, free book notes, free literature notes. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Dec. 2012. . The Life of Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1343-1400) [Chaucer Biography]." Luminarium: Anthology of English Literature. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Dec. 2012. . Read More